Tailings Management: Closure – Does “Safe” = “Dry”? Session | Room 155B
Estimates of recharge to tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are necessary for long-term TSF closure and management. These estimates inform pore pressure responses and seepage from these facilities to the underlying groundwater system. However, recharge estimates are typically highly uncertain due to the absence of transient field observations. In addition, direct measurement of TSF hydraulic properties is difficult: In-situ testing methods are limited, and laboratory methods suffer bias from sample handing. This work describes calibration of a 1D infiltration model to eddy covariance (E.C.) tower and soil moisture probe data at a closed TSF in the southwest USA. Model boundary conditions were refined using potential evaporation and precipitation data from the E.C. tower. Uncertainty in model parameters was reduced by employing an iterative ensemble smoother (IES) calibration method to transient field observations. This provided a range of plausible model parameters that would result in reasonable calibration, or an ensemble of models that reasonably describe hydraulic processes. Thus, accounting for potential non-uniqueness in model construction and parameterization.
Authors
- Assaf Wunsch, Principal Consultant (Hydrogeology) | SRK Denver
- Aya Mohamed, Consultant (Hydrogeology) | SRK Denver
- Philine Tullius, Staff Consultant (Hydrogeology) | SRK Denver
- Kyle Williams, Senior Data Engineer | SRK Vancouver
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